Apparatus for assembling venetian blinds



1949 I a. SHERWOOD I 2,489,467

APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING VENETIAN BLINDS Filed March 14, 1946 I 4 Shets-Sheet l 6Z6 'Z fZ 62 7573 7 0O NOV. 29 1949 SHERWOOD 2,489,467

APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING VENETIAN BLINDS Filed March 14, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 29, 1949 G. L. SHERWOOD 2,489,467

' APPARATUS FOR AS-SEMBLING VENETIAN BLINDS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 14, 1946 I lem lf fwaad g? M Nov. 29, 1949 G. 1.. SHERWOOD- 2,489,467

APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING VENE'IIAN BLINDS Filed March 14, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INNTOR.

Patented Nov. 29, 1949 APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING VENETIAN BLINDS Glenn L. Sherwood, Ee nton Harbor, Mich. Application March 14, 1946, Serial No. 654,240

8 Claims.

My invention relates to a method and apparatus for assembling Venetian blinds.

Venetian blinds are formed with a head box from which is suspended a tilting bar. The tilting bar carries two pairs of side tapes. Cross tapes are secured to the side tapes and normally support the slats. The angularity of the slats is governed by the tilting bar. The raising and lowering of the slats is accomplished by a pair of cords passing through openings in the slats on the longitudinal axis thereof in the region of the point of support of the cross or tilting tapes. These cords pass into the head box over a suitable mechanism well known to the art so that the blindmay be raised or lowered or secured in any position between the extreme upper and lower portions. In the prior art the slats are assembled by placing them on the cross tapes. Care must be taken that the slat rests on cross tapes at the same level so that they do not become canted. This in itself is a time-consuming task. After the slats are in place, the lifting cords must be threaded through all of the openings in the slats downwardly to the bottom slat, which is usually of heavier construction and then secured to the bottom slat. The threading of the lifting cords is again a time-consuming and tedious task. The average assembly time of a skilled worker in assembling one Venetian blind is about ten minutes.

One object of my invention is to provide a novel apparatus for assembling Venetian blinds in a convenient, simple and expeditious manner.

Another object of my invention is to provide an apparatus for assembling Venetian blinds which will save considerable labor.

Another object of my invention is to provide a method of assembling Venetian blinds which will avoid much of the tedium and time-consuming steps of the prior art.

Other and further objects of my invention will appear from the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of the instant specification and which are to be read in conjunction therewith, and in which like reference numerals are used to indicate like parts in the various views:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of an apparatus showingone embodiment of my invention and capable of carrying out the method of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

, Fig.4 is a-front elevation of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale, showing the position of the parts in one stage of the assembly operation.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, showing the parts in position at another stage of the assembly operation. 1

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail view on an enlarged scale showing a portion of the control mechanism.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view on an enlarged scale showing one step in the assembly process.

In general, my invention contemplates the provision of framework adapted to support the head box, the tilting bar, and the tilting tapes in extended position above a slat-inserting position. Means are provided for raising and lowering the shiftable support at will. Further, I provide automatic means operated by an inserted slat for lowering the assembly in step by step relation as slat after slat is inserted. The inserted slats are automatically positioned in alignment with needle-like structures over which the slats pass. After all the slats are assembled in the tilting tapes and lowered to a predetermined point such that the uppermost slat is past a lifting cord threading means, the cords are inserted through the threading means and the slats lifted to thread the cords through the slats automatically.

More particularly, referring now to the drawings, a framework is formed by a pair of vertical rails l and 2 which are secured to any suitable foundation 3 by means of brackets 4. If desired, the rails l and 2 may be embedded in a concrete foundation. The rails I and 2 are joined by an upper cross bar 5. Supported in suitable bearings 6 and 1 carried by the rails l and 2 is a roller 8. Slidably mounted between the rails l and 2, I provide a carriage 9, the ends of which are provided with shoes In and II adapted to slide upon the rails I and 2. The carriage 9 is normally supported by flexible cables 12 and i3 having their ends I4 and I5 secured to the roller 8 in any suitable manner. The carriage 9 carries a fixed support 16 and a movable support I! adapted to support the ends of a head box I8 of a Venetian blind to be assembled. The movable support is normally held in a fixed position by a clamp [9 having a clamping screw 20. The arrangement is such that Venetian blinds of varying width may be readily used in my apparatus. Between the rails l and 2, I mount a fixed .support or platform 2| secured to the rails by securing members 22 and 23. Fixedly mounted to the platform 2|, I provide a pedestal 24. A shiftable pedestal 25 is likewise carried by the platform. The pedestals 24 and 25 hold a shelf 26 on which is positioned a plurality of slats 21 in stacked position and held in this manner by brackets 28 and 29. A pair of shoes 30 and 3| are likewise supported by the platform 2|. Normally shoe 35 is fixed and shoe 3| is adjustable. Secured to the shoes are a pair of brackets 32 and 33. These brackets form supports for elongated members 34 and 35 and are adapted to hold them in a vertical position. The upper end of the elongated members 34 and 35 are formed with loops 38 and 31 similar to the eye in a needle. For purposes of simplicity, I shall hereinafter refer to the elongated members 34 and 35 and their associated loops 36 and 31 as needles. Carried by the rail I at a point adjacent the upper end of the needles I provide a guide member 38, the end surface 39 of which is a predetermined distance from the axis of the needle 84. This distance corresponds to the distance between the edge of a slat and the lifting cord opening which passes through the center of the slat. A lever 46 is pivotally mounted on pivot 4| secured to the member 38. One end of the lever carries a mercury switch 42 so positioned that its weight will normally move the switch to open position, which is the position occupied by the switch shown in Fig. 6. The end of the lever 43 remote from the portion carrying the switch extends beyond the surface 39 of the guide member 38. The rails I and 2 carry a pair of stop members 44 and 45. These stop members are such that they are adapted to support the carriage 9 with all of the slats nested on the platform 2| with the needles 34 and 35 projecting above the uppermost slat, the parts being in the position shown in Fig. 5. From Fig. it will be apparent that the shoes I6 and II are adapted to contact the stop members 44 and 45. Adjacent rail I of the framework I position a hydraulic cylinder 46 in which is positioned a piston 4'l having a piston follower 48 to which is secured a piston rod 49 by a nut 50. The cylinder is closed by a cylinder head 5| which carries a suitable stufiing box 52. As can be seen by reference to Figs. 1 and 2, the upper end of the piston rod 49 carries a fitting 53 which is adapted to support a pulley 54 around a pulley wheel pin 55. I lead a flexible cable 56, the upper end of which is anchored to the bracket 5'! carried by the cross bar 5, downwardly around pulley 54 and upwardly around the roller 8. The end of the flexible cable 56 is wound around the roller 8 in a direction opposite to the direction of winding flexible cables l2 and IS. The end 58 of the flexible cable 56 is anchored to the roller 8 in any suitable manner. The construction is such that when cables I2 and i3 unwind, cable 56 will wind upon the roller 8. Conversely, when cable 56 unwinds from roller 8, cables I2 and I3 will wind upon roller 8.

Pivoted around a rod 66 is a foot lever 6|. A pair of springs 62 and 63 hold the lever 6| in its horizontal position. One end 64 of the lever BI is connected to a valve-controlled lever 65 by a rod 66. A bracket or an angle member 6! is secured to the lever 6i at a point toward the end 64 of the lever from the pivot 66. A plate 68 is secured to the lever 6| at a point adjacent the end 69 of the lever 6|. The arrangement is such that when foot pressure of an operator is applied to plate 68, the rod 66 will be moved upwardly. Upon release of the pressure the parts will assume the position shown in Fig. 2. Again, when foot pressure is applied to angle pedal 61 the drawings.

Referring now to Fig. 6, the valve control lever 65 controls a double acting rotary valve 10. Normally, the valve is in the position shown in Fig. 6, closing both the opening to pipe II, which is connected to a suitable source of fluid pressure, as for example the city water main, and pipe I2, which leads to a drain. A pipe 13 .connects the valve housing 74 to a T fitting 15 which communicates through leg 16 to the interior of the hydraulic cylinder 46. The lever 65 controls the position of valve 16. The other leg of the T fitting i5 is connected to a stop cock H, the valve 75 of which is controlled by valve operating lever 79. One end of valve operating lever 19 is connected to a spring 89 normally biasing the valve operating lever i9 to move the stop cock to closed position as shown in Fig, 6. The valve operating lever I9 is also connected to the armature 8| of solenoid 82. The solenoid winding is connected by conductors 83 and 84 through mercury switch 52 to a source of potential connected at points 85 and 86. The mercury switch contains a quantity of mercury 81 which is adapted, when the lever 46 is tilted, to complete the circuit through contact points 68 and 88 as is well known to the art.

Still referring to Fig. 6, when the circuit is completed through the winding of the solenoid 82, the armature ill will be lifted against the action of spring to open the stop cock, placing'the interior of the cylinder 46 in communication with a pipe 96 leading to the drain.

In operation, the foot pedal 6'! is depressed, moving rod 66 downwardly, thus actuating valve control lever 65 to admit water from the city main through pipe II through pipe 13 through the connection 15 into the cylinder 46 above the piston 41, moving it downwardly. During the operation a drain cock 9| at the bottom of the cylinder may be opened to permit any water which has leaked past the piston to escape. The downward motion of the piston 41 will pull piston rod 49 downwardly and the pulley 54 downwardly, thus unwinding cable 56 from about the roller 8. This rotation of the roller 8 will wind both cables I2 and I3 upon the roller, pulling the carriage 9 upwardly. The head box [8 of a Venetian blind to be assembled is fitted between brackets I6 and Il, bracket I? being movable, as pointed out hereinabove. Attached to the head box I8 is the tilting bar 92, which carries the tilting tapes 93 and 94. The lifting cords of the Venetian blinds have been threaded over the mechanism housed within the head box l8 and the operating ends extend downwardly in a loop 95. The carriage 9 is raised sufliciently high so the lower ends of the tilting tapes 93 and 94, which are provided with a plurality of cross tapes 96, are above the member 38 which carries the switch lever 40. If the carriage has been moved too high, the pedal portion 68 may be pressed, thus raising the rod 66 and rotating the valve-operating lever 65 in a counter-clockwise direction, placing the drain pipe 52 in communication with the cylinder 46 above the piston 41. The weight of carriage 9 and associated parts will tend to rotate the roller 3 in a direction to unwind the cables I2 and I3. This rotation wil wind the end of cable 56' upon the roller 8. In order for this action to take place, however, the pulley 54 must move upwardly, thus lifting the piston rod 49-. Normally this action is resisted since before the piston can move upwardly, it must displace the water imprisoned above the piston within the cylinder 46. When the valve 18, however, places the interior of cylinder 46 in communication with the drain pipe 12, water will pass out of the drain pipe, thus allowing the piston rod 49 to move upwardly and the carriage 90 to move downwardly. When the Venetian blind to be assembled is in the proper position with the lower cross tapes 96 at the level of the pivot point 4| of the lever 40, the foot pedal 68 is released and its parts are now in position for the assembly position for the assembly operation. It is understood, of course, that bracket 3| has been moved to align the needle 35 with the openings 91 formed in the slats 21. The ends of the lifting cords 98 and 99 are at this time suitably clear of the assembly. The operator then takes a slat 21 from the pilot support 28 and slides it through the space between the lifting tapes 93 and 94 above the cross tapes 96 until the end of the slat being inserted strikes against the surface 39 of the guide bracket 38. This position is shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 4. The weight of the mercury switch 42 will have moved the switch lever 49 in a counter-clockwise direction to the position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 4. When the slat 21 has been inserted to the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4 it is released by the operator. It falls by gravity to the cross tapes 96 where it rests. In doing so, the end of the slat 21 will move the end 93 of the lever 40 downwardly, thus closing the circuit across contact points 88 and 89 through the solenoid 82. This energizes the solenoid and lifts the armature 8| against the action of spring 89 on opening the stop cock 11, placing the interior of cylinder 46 in communication with the drain pipe 98. The weight of the carriage and associated parts will then act through cables I2 and [3 to rotate roller 8, winding the end of cable 56 upon the roller, lifting pulley 54 and piston rod 49, lowering the whole assembly. As soon as the end of slat 21 moves clear of the end 43 of the switch lever, the weight of the mercury switch 42 will again rotate the switch lever 40 in a counter-clockwise direction, tilting the mercury switch and breaking the circuit. When the solenoid 82 is thus de-energized the spring 88 will close the stop cock 11. The proportion of the parts is such that this action will take place to stop the about at the level of the pivot point 4| of the switch lever 48. Another slat can then be inserted and the action repeated. As soon as the slat is released the action just described will take place again and the carriage moves downwardly step by step a predetermined amount in the correct relation to repeat the cycle of operations until all of the slats have been inserted. After the last slat has been inserted, the parts will be in the position shown in Fig. 5, with the uppermost slat just below the eyes 36 and 31 of the needles 34 and 35. The ends 98 and 99 of the lifting cords are then threaded through the eyes of the needles, as can readily be seen by reference to Fig. '7. After the ends of the lifting cords have been threaded, the parts being in the position shown in Fig. 5, foot lever pedal 61 is depressed, thus moving piston rod 66 downwardly and connecting the cylinder above the piston 41 with the water pressure of the city water main. This moves the piston downwardly, forcing piston rod 49 and pulley 54 downwardly, unwinding the end of cable 56 from the roller 8 and lifting the carriage 9 through the action of winding the ends of cables l2 and 13 upon the roller 8. The liftnext pair of cross tapes ing action pulls the slats in succession past the eyes of the needle and automatically threads the lifting cords through the openings 91 in the slats. After the parts have been raised so the lowermost slat is above the eye of the needles, the ends of the lifting cords are brought downwardly and secured in any manner well known to the art to the bottom slat 21. The clamp screw 26 is then backed off and the slidable bracket 11 moved to the right, freeing the assembled blind from the apparatus; another blind to be assembled is then inserted and the process repeated.

It will be seen that I have accomplished the objects of my invention. I have provided a simple, convenient and expeditious method of assembling Venetian blinds, including the placing of the slats on the cross tapes and the threading of the lifting cords through the slats. The operation is semi-automatic. I have been enabled, by means of my method and apparatus, to reduce the assembly time from ten minutes to three minutes. In other words, an operator may by means of my invention assemble twenty Venetian blinds in an hour as compared with six Venetian blinds per hour by the methods of the prior art.

It will be understood that certain features and sub-combinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and sub-combinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims. It is further obvious that various changes may be made in details within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of the inventions. It is, therefore, to be understood that this invention is not to be limited to the specific details shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. An apparatus for facilitating the assembly of Venetian blinds on the lift cords thereof, including in combination, a carriage, means for supporting the elements of the Venetian blind from said carriage as they are assembled, a pair of needles fixedly positioned below said carriage in alignment with the lift cords of said Venetian blind, and control means responsive to the insertion of each slat in said tapes for lowering said carriage a distance equal to the space between the slats when assembled.

2. An apparatus for assembling the slats of Venetian blinds on the lift cords and tapes thereof, including in combination a carriage, means including a hydraulic cylinder for raising and lowering said carriage, means for suspending the elements of a Venetian blind from said carriage as they are assembled, a pair of vertically extending needles fixedly positioned below said carriage in alignment with the lifting cords of the Venetian blind, and control means for actuating said cylinder to lower said carriage a predetermined distance in response to the insertion of a slat between the tilting tapes of the Venetian blind.

3. An apparatus as in claim 1 in which said means for raising and lowering said carriage includes a hydraulic cylinder, and a manually operated control valve for admitting fluid under pressure to said cylinder to raise said carriage.

4. An apparatus for assembling Venetian blinds comprising a plurality of slats having aligned spaced apertures and lift cords adapted to extend through said apertures including in combination, a carriage adapted to have spaced Venetian blind tilting tapes and said cords mounted thereon to depend therefrom, each of saidtapes having spaced means thereon for supporting a plurality of :slats in spaced relation, a pair of needles fixedly positioned below said carriage in alignment with the apertures in said slats when said .slats .are assembled on .said tapes, means for moving said carriage to lower said tapes and cords towardsaid needles whereby to thread said needles through the apertures of all of said slats and to position the cords for threading through the eyes of the needles, and means for thereafter raising said carriage to lift said tapes and slats away from said needles to thread said cords through the apertures of said slats.

5. An apparatus for assembling the slats and tapes of Venetian blinds on thelift cords thereof including in combination, a carriage, means for raising and lowering said carriage, said means including a hydraulic cylinder, a control valve for releasing pressure from said cylinder to lower said carriage, means for supporting the elements of a Venetian blind from said carriage as they are assembled, and a pair of needles fixedly positioned below said carriage in alignment with the lift cords of said Venetian blind.

6. An apparatus for facilitating the assembly of the slats of Venetian blinds on the lift cords and tapes thereof including in combination, a carriage, means including a hydraulic cylinder for raising or lowering said carriage, means for suspending the elements of a Venetian blind from said carriage as they are assembled, a pair of vertically extending needles positioned below said carriage in alignment with the lift cords of the Venetian blind, said means for raising and lowering said ca "riage further including a manually operable valve for introducing fluid under pressure into said cylinder to raise said carriage, a second valve for releasing pressure from said cylinder to permit said carriage to l move to a lower position, a-spring normally biasing said second valve to closed position, control means including a solenoid adapted to move said second valve to open position when energized, and means engageable with a slat upon the insertion of a slat into said tapes for energizing said solenoid.

7. An apparatus for facilitating the assembly of the slats of Venetian blinds on the lift cords and tapes thereof including in combination, a carriage, means including a hydraulic cylinder for raising and lowering said carriage, means for suspending the elements for a Venetian blind from said carriage as they are assembled, a pair of vertically extending needles positioned below said carriage in alignment with a lift cord of the Venetian blind, said means for raising and lowering saidcarriage further including a manually operable valve for introducing fluid under pressure into said cylinder to raise said carriage, second valve for releasing pressure from said cylinder to perm-it said carr ge to mor to a lower position, a spring normally ia ing said valve :to closed position, control means including a solenoid adapted to move saidsecond valve to open position when energized, ,a pivoted memher, and a mercury switch adapted to close a circuit through said solenoid and carried by said pivoted member, said pivoted member being adapted to be contacted by the insertion of a slat insaid tapes to rotate said pivoted member to move said switch to closed position to actuate said;solenoid and said second valve to lower said carriage, the relation of said pivoted member to the slat so inserted being that ,after said carriage has been-lowered a predetermined amount the slat will be disengaged from said pivoted member and said pivoted member will move the switch to open :position to de-energize said solenoid and arrest the downward movement of the carriage.

8. An apparatus for facilitating the assembly of the slats and tapes of Venetian blinds on :the lift cords thereof including in combination, a framework, .a carriage, means for raising and loiz eringsaid carriage on said framework, means for supporting the elements of a Venetian blind as they are assembled on said carriage, and a of needles positioned below said carriage in alignm nt with the lifting cords of said Venetian blinds, said means :forraising said carriage including a roller, a pair of cables wound around said roller 'and each having one of their ends connected i-to said carriage, another :cable wound around said roller in the opposite direction and having oneend secured to said framework, a hydraulic cylinder, a pistonin said cylinder, a piston rod connected to said piston, said piston rod carrying a pulley, said other cable being passed around said pulley, the construction being such that when said piston is lowered said other cable will unwind from said roller .to wind said pair of cables upon said roller to lift said carriage.

GLENN L. SHERWOOD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Hammer 'Nov. '25, 1941 

